Youngster Alex Gilliead has revealed it is his “goal” to break into the Newcastle United first team this season – but admits he’d “welcome” the opportunity to impress on loan at Coventry City.

The 19-year-old forward has already trained with the Sky Blues for a fortnight and Coventry boss Tony Mowbray is keen to pair Gilliead with League One Player of the Month and fellow Magpie Adam Armstrong.

Gilliead, who netted his first-ever goal at St James’ Park for United’s Under-21 side on Friday, would be keen to join Coventry on an emergency loan – especially if it helps propel him into Steve McClaren’s first-team thinking on Tyneside.

England Under-20 international Gilliead said: “I’m hoping that if I really show what I can do then I could maybe force my way into the first-team squad - that is my main aim for the season.

“But I would also like to go out on loan because I’ve trained with Coventry for a couple of weeks and I really enjoyed that.

“So if I can’t get into the manager’s plans in the short term then I’d welcome going out on loan and getting some first-team football.

“I want to have the chance to put my name out there, be it on loan or within the first-team squad at Newcastle.”

Gilliead netted an injury-time consolation for United’s Under-21 side during the 2-1 loss to Arsenal on Friday night and admitted he was “delighted” to score his first-ever goal at St James’ Park.

But the tricky and pacey forward, who can play anywhere across the front three, is hoping that he’ll feature there for the first team at St James’ before the campaign is out.

Admitting that McClaren has not personally spoken to him about his future, Gilliead did reveal that assistant first-team coach Paul Simpson has sat down with him and spoken about his career development.

He continued: “No he’s (McClaren’s) not had a word with me yet.

“It’s mainly just been discussions with Simmo (Paul Simpson) and my agent who have been sorting things out (for going out on loan).

“I’ve just got to wait and see what happens, but the first team is definitely a goal of mine this season.”